title: Functional roles of the pepper antimicrobial protein gene, CaAMP1, in abscisic acid signaling, and salt and drought tolerance in Arabidopsis.
abstract: Biotic signaling molecules including abscisic acid (ABA) are involved in signal transduction pathways that mediate the defense response of plants to environmental stresses. The antimicrobial protein gene CaAMP1, previously isolated from pepper (Capsicum annuum), was strongly induced in pepper leaves exposed to ABA, NaCl, drought, or low temperature. Because transformation is very difficult in pepper, we overexpressed CaAMP1 in Arabidopsis. CaAMP1-overexpressing (OX) transgenic plants exhibited reduced sensitivity to ABA during the seed germination and seedling stages. Overexpression of CaAMP1 conferred enhanced tolerance to high salinity and drought, accompanied by altered expression of the AtRD29A gene, which is correlated with ABA levels and environmental stresses. The transgenic plants were also highly tolerant to osmotic stress caused by high concentrations of mannitol. Together, these results suggest that overexpression of the CaAMP1 transgene modulates salt and drought tolerance in Arabidopsis through ABA-mediated cell signaling.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Plant Pathology, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Korea University, Anam-dong, Sungbuk-ku, Seoul, 136-713, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sung Chul
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Byung Kook
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Hwang
mesh_terms: D000040:Abscisic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000187:drug effects; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D002212:Capsicum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D055864:Droughts; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000187:drug effects; D017343:Genes, Plant; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D010940:Plant Proteins; D012965:Sodium Chloride; D000040:Abscisic Acid